H.E. Abdulla Balalaa speaks to POLITICO on AI, data centres and water
H.E. Abdulla Balalaa, Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs for Energy and Sustainability, has set out the UAE’s approach to AI, data centres and water in an interview with POLITICO, ahead of the 2026 UN Water Conference in Abu Dhabi.
Speaking to POLITICO’s Surge newsletter, H.E. Balalaa explained that new data centres in the UAE go ahead only where there is enough water to support them. He pointed to AI-enabled tools that help the country plan its water output, and to new cooling technologies that reduce the water data centres need to run.
“Artificial intelligence is a window … that we look at everything through,” he told POLITICO.
H.E. Balalaa also said he is open to discussing AI’s water use at the 2026 UN Water Conference, which the UAE and Senegal will co-host in Abu Dhabi from 8 to 10 December.
Putting the AI–water–energy nexus on the agenda
The interview follows a week of UAE engagements in New York during the 81st Session of the UN General Assembly and New York Climate Week, where the links between AI, water and energy were a central theme. At Goals House, H.E. Balalaa joined leaders from Microsoft, 500 Global and Xatoms to discuss how innovation, investment and responsible resource management must advance together, describing the AI transformation as “also a water transformation”.
“The 2026 UN Water Conference is placing the AI–water–energy nexus at the front of the conversation and will provide the right opportunity to ask not only how AI can accelerate our economies, but how we can future-proof the water and energy infrastructure that powers critical digital infrastructure,” he said.
The UAE has also published Crosscurrents: Navigating the AI–Water–Energy Nexus, a report that looks at water use across the whole AI value chain, from data centres to semiconductor manufacturing and power generation. Among its five recommendations, it calls for the Conference to advance a global, consensus-driven declaration on efficient and responsible water use in AI.
Coverage and further reading
- POLITICO Surge: “Cold politics are here” (6 October 2026)
- Press release: Water, AI and Energy Anchor UAE Global Engagements on Water at UN General Assembly and New York Climate Week
- UAE Publishes New Report on Navigating the AI–Water–Energy Nexus
- WAM: Water, AI and energy anchor UAE global engagements on water at UN General Assembly and New York Climate Week
- UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs: the same release on mofa.gov.ae